How does Entity Framework implement the mapping of C# inheritance classes into the database table structure?

Entity Framework supports several inheritance mapping strategies for C# classes to database tables:

1. Table Per Hierarchy (TPH) — all classes and their properties are stored in a single table with an additional discriminator column indicating the object type.

2. Table Per Type (TPT) — a separate table is created for each class, where derived tables contain only additional fields, and the relationship with the base class is maintained through a foreign key.

3. Table Per Concrete Class (TPC) — a separate table is created for each concrete class, containing all fields, including inherited ones.

Example of TPH:

public abstract class Animal { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } }
public class Cat : Animal { public int Lives { get; set; } }
public class Dog : Animal { public string Breed { get; set; } }

// In the database, there will be one table Animals with columns Id, Name, Lives, Breed, and Discriminator

The choice of strategy depends on performance requirements and data structure.